England and Canada roar into a WXV rugby rematch after big opening wins

England and Canada set up a rematch of their Women’s Rugby World Cup final from last year with crushing wins to begin the new WXV Global Series on Saturday.

The Red Roses overturned their first halftime deficit since 2020 and blew away Australia 48-15 with a seven-try second half in Salford.

Canada outclassed Scotland 64-26 in Edinburgh.

England will host Canada next Saturday in Exeter in their first matchup since the World Cup final a year ago at Twickenham, where England won 33-13.

In their first match since winning a record eighth straight Women’s Six Nations title in May, England was plagued by errors in the first half and thwarted by Australia's scrambling defense.

But a lineout maul try for hooker May Campbell quickly put England in a groove in the second half and the host extended its record winning streak to 39 matches.

Canada started reigning world player of the year and captain Sophie de Goede on the bench and still overran Scotland with 10 tries, five in each half.

Prop Brittany Kassil had a yellow card for a high tackle upgraded to a 20-minute red at 45-12 in the second half, and added three more tries.

Canada debuted three including sevens players Charity Williams, who had a try disallowed, and Savannah Bauder, who soloed the last try.

In Lyon, flanker Mia Anderson starred as New Zealand defeated France 28-14.

Anderson scored one try and had a big hand in two more to help the Black Ferns run their record this year to 6-0.

France replacement Lina Queyroi finished a move she started with a chip to close the gap to seven points, but five minutes later Anderson split the French and No. 8 Liana Mikaele-Tu'u touched down to restore the 14-point lead.

New Zealand is in Scotland next weekend.

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